The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has closed an investigation into rollaway risks affecting more than 1.5 million Ford SUVs, eliminating the need for a recall.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has closed an investigation spanning almost four years into rollaway risks for more than 1.5 million SUVs from the Ford Motor Company, declaring no need for a recall. Despite receiving a total of 180 complaints from owners detailing rollaway situations, including 14 accidents and six injuries, the federal agency declared that the issue was not a significant safety threat and that steps had already been taken to correct any dangers, also concluding that “there has been a drastically declining trend including very few incidents occurring in recent years.”
The federal investigation, which was launched in April of 2009 before being upgraded to an engineering analysis in August, centered on the brake shift interlock found on a number of 2002 through 2005 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer SUVs, along with the 2003 to 2005 Lincoln Aviator. Working properly, the interlock is intended to prevent a vehicle from being shifted out of park unless the vehicle’s brakes are engaged, holding it firmly in place.
According to their findings, the NTHSA said that the mechanism on the SUVs in question could be defeated if drivers shifted out of park within 0.4 seconds of the time the brakes were applied, as a result of a production change starting in the 2002 model year. If drivers continued to shift quickly, they may lose the ability to shift into park entirely, leading to the possibility of rolling. Of the complaints received, 144 complaints detailed exactly that.
In February of 2004, Ford issued a quality bulletin to its assembly plants explaining that the parking brake should on vehicles built on their Explorer platform should be fully applied when they were loaded for shipment on trains or car haulers, helping to ease the stress on the transmission park system. In June, they then modified the interlock system, shortening the shifting time to defeat the locking mechanism from 0.4 seconds to 0.03 seconds to address reports of customers having difficulty shifting. Then in November, a technical service bulletin was released informing dealers that some Explorer and Mountaineer SUVs may require added effort to shift vehicles into park, and that a replacement of the brake shift interlock system was needed.
Avoiding the need for a recall is welcome news for Ford, which has been off to a rough start in 2013 having already recalled hundreds of thousands of vehicles for a number of issues. Just days before the NHTSA’s closure of their investigation, nearly a quarter of a million minivans were recalled over rust issues which could prevent third row seating from latching properly. 2012 was a struggle as well, as dangerous airbag malfunctions and engine fires plagued a number of models, including their newly redesigned Escape SUV and Fusion hybrid sedan. To make matters worse, lawsuits have also become a growing concern, as potentially inflated fuel economy estimates have prompted a class action suit filed in February seeking compensation for the added cost of ownership for owners.
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